Monthly Archive:: April 2009

Our last foray into the brave new world of video didn’t work too well when drew names out of a hat for our Cowmoo Marathon giveaway over the holidays. We’re trying again, but this time with embedded YouTube, so hopefully most of our readers will be able to see it! Suffice to say that the winner of the last contest could probably give you a pretty idea of the prize(s), even if you can’t see the video!

To enter for this fabulous prize, simply reply here with a comment! Only one entry per person, please. If you comment more than once, only your first comment will count!

The Roosevelt has been at a number of conferences and shows over the last few years, including the Lifesavers conference we just attended. It doesn’t get a lot of publicity, because it’s a rather expensive model intended for special health care needs. It does, however, have some more mainstream applications. For example, it has an upper weight limit of 115 pounds, maximum height of 62 inches and a top harness slot of over 22″. That alone makes it one of the only options for older kids in the top few percentiles of weight or height who may not be ready for a booster or seatbelt.

Special needs child restraints serve a very important purpose, from preemies to teenagers who can’t use a conventional carseat for any of a number of reasons. Just as there are specialty seats for this purpose, there are many specially certified technicians who have taken an extra course to be familiar with these issues. Working with you, your child and their physician or therapist, a special needs tech can help create a personalized transportation plan.

Do you have a child with special health care needs and have questions on what to do when transporting them in your vehicle? Our discussion forums at Car-Seat.Org now have a special forum for this purpose (and also for issues involving alternative transportation like school buses and aircraft). It is monitored by around a dozen certified technicians who have taken the special needs transportation course. The forum is overseen by a course instructor who works with special health care needs patients in a hospital setting. Please feel free to browse or ask a question! No registration is required, though questions from unregistered guests may take some time before they are approved and appear to the public.

The Coccoro \’kō-kə-rō\ is a new child restraint from Combi. It is a convertible seat that can be used rear or forward facing for children 5-40 lbs who are less than 40 inches tall. Rear facing, the seat is rated from 5-33 lbs with a stated height limit of 36 inches. Forward facing, it can be used for children over 1 year old who weigh between 20 and 40 lbs.

The Coccoro is compact at just over 15 inches wide and weighing only 11 lbs. The back of the shell measures ~21 inches tall with harness slots at 9, 11, 13 and 15 inches. The lack of a base makes it is a good candidate to fit in even the smallest of vehicles.

Lifesavers may be the biggest highway safety conference, but it’s no longer the only game around. This year marks the 5th anniversary of the KIM (Kidz in Motion) conference. It may not be as widely recognized as Lifesavers, but it should be. While it is a smaller conference, that’s only because it is dedicated specifically to child passenger safety. Lifesavers has significant attendance for other areas of traffic safety. That’s a bonus if you want exposure to this information, especially if you are a member of the law enforcement community.

On the other hand, Kidz In Motion has the same quality and quantity of content related specifically to child passenger safety. Well, I think it’s still devoted to child passenger safety. Sadly, Lifesavers switched from CPS to OPC (Occupant Protection for Children) a few years back. I’m still not sure why. Maybe someone just decided we needed another three letter acronym, even though it is no more descriptive than the perfectly good one we had been using for years.

So, Kudos to KIM for calling itself the National Child Passenger Safety Conference. It clearly would not be worthy of this blog had they called it the National Occupant Protection for Children Conference. Just doesn’t have the same ring to it, am I right?